Padding material



May 16, 1933. F BRYANT I I 1,909,521

- PADDING MATERIAL Filed Dec. 15, 1930 IHaenZEK is formed of cellulose fibres Patented May 16, 1933 rum: 1.. Bavaria, or cmcseo',

cnnruromcoaromrron, or crncaeo,

rumors, ASSIGNOR, BY mnsnn'sssrermnn'rs, 'ro

ILLIINOIS, .A conroaarron or DELAWARE PADDING MATERIAL Application filed December 15, 1930. Serial No. 502,629.

patent, No. 1,740,280,'issued December 1 7,

1929, and modified in certain particulars as 7 set forth fication.

The material set forth in theabove patent which are impregnated with a bubble-forming ingredient which when agitated causes the fibrous mass to distend by the formation of minute bubbles throughout the mass so that its volume becomes greatly that when fed forward, in the form of a layer and dried under conditions which prevent it from being crushed down or compressed, it assumes the'form of a light flufiy layer.

In order to better fit said material for use and described in the present specias a cushioning material in upholstery, or as a pad for stair carpeting, or under similar conditions where a considerable degree of resiliency is required, the present invention provides for the admixture with the cellulose fibres of a substantial quantity of hair fibres which are impregnated with the mass during the period of agitation and bubble forming, so that the hair fibres will become thoroughly interspersed throughout the completed material and will add the natural resiliency of the hair to the product, thereby tending to prevent it from becoming mashed down or compacted when subjected to prescondition throughout a long period of use.

In order to secure the best results, it is desirable to cut the hair fibres to a length of about one inch before combining them with the cellulose fibres which are much shorteror more minute, so that the hair fibres will act to more completely integrate or bind together the short fibres of cellulose into a more coherent and self-sustaining layer of material in addition-to the resilient property provided by the hair which serves to maintain the inltial distention of the layer.

forth and described in the Bryant augmented, with the result fibres sufliciently so and tending .to maintain its distended mately produced -dition of the hair The drawing is a perspective view of the product of the present invention, broken away to reveal the interior fibrous forma- .tion.

The product comprises relatively short cellulose fibres A a porous cushion-like layerthrough which run the longer hair-like fibres'B, which intermesh with the cellulose fibres and serve to tie them together and at the same time which are distended to afi'ord BIS afford a greater degree of resiliency and re sistance to compacting action than would be the case if the hair-like fibres were omitted. I

One of the surfaces of-the pad or layer is covered by a tough paper-like skin C, the fibres of which are 'intermeshed with the interior fibres, but are more closely compacted than are the fibres of the interior, to give a relatively close texture constituting a tough paper-like skin which serves to better protect the interior and to maintain-the form of the pad.

The method of producing the present product is set forth in detail in co-pending application, Serial No. 462,218, filed June 19, 1930, now issued as Patent No."'1,841,785, dated January 19, 1932, but may be briefly summarized as follows: are subjected to apreliminary beating which The cellulose fibres the desired extent, but the fibres should not be shortened to such an extent as to completely destroy the resistance of the product to compressive action.

It is desirable, however,

will be of a somewhat to shorten the that the material ultispongy or cellular character and with a slight degree of resiliency irrespective of the adfibres which are introduced primarily to increase the resilient properties.

After the preliminary beating, the cellulose, in combination with hair orhairlike materials possessing a substantial degree of natural resiliency, will be thoroughly impregnated with the bubble-forming ingredientsof the character set forth in Patent No. 1,740,280, and distended while in semi-v liquid form and subjected to agitation by agitating blades designed to give to the mass a swift vertical movement combined with a surging in and out movement which more fully tends to impregnate the fibre forming ingredients and to cause the necessary frothing and distension, and this agitating process is continued until the mass becomes distended to two or three times its original volume, at which time the mass is in condition to permit it to be discharged from the agitating receptacle in the form of a thick sheet or layer which as discharged is preferably of quite substantial depth or thickness.

After the material has been thoroughly agitated and brought to a distended frothy condition, it is discharged onto the moving foraminous bed of a Fourdrinier machine, which carries the 'material forward in the form of a continuous layer of uniform thickness, and .in order to create upon the surface I of the layer a somewhat tough coherent skin of paperlike consistency, the layer immediately after it is discharged upon the bed of the Fourzdrinier machine is subjected momentarily to a vacuum preferably above five inches, which has the effect of suddenly exhausting most of the moisture from the under surface of the mass contiguous to the vacuum box, without, however, imparting the suction deeply into the mass, so that the under surface only will be thus subjected to the compacting influence of the somewhat heavy suction, which results in the formation of a surface skin or layer, without, however, subjecting the remainder of the mass to any substantial degree of compressive action, so that within the skin layer the mass will retain its flulfy or spongy consistency, which, together with the resilient properties afforded by the hair or hair-like fibres, imparts to the layer the cushioning properties which characterize the product of the present invention.

After the layer of material has traveled beyond what may be termed the heavy suction, it is thereafter subjected to a lesser vacuum of about three inches, which serves to abstract a large portion of the moisture, without, however, breaking down or compacting the fibrous body of the layer, so that as itis discharged from the Fourdinier machine it will display the characteristics of a fibrous spongy pad having a very considerable degree of resiliency, and with a paper-like surface skin of considerable toughness, In this condition, the layer is fed forwardly without compressive contact and without being sub-v jected to disturbing or disrupting influences, into an elongated dryingchamber, through which it passes and within which it becomes thoroughly dry, so that at the point of discharge from the drying chamber it may be cut into sections of the desired dimensions and stored or packed for shipment.

woman The above sets forth briefly a suitable method of producing the present product and serves to indicate the nature and properties ofthe product, which when produced for use as a pad should possess a relatively thick cushiondike resilient body, which is protected by the formation of a thin but relatively tough and coherent surface skin formed of the same fibres as the body and integrated therewith but of more dense and compact texture than the body itself, which maintains and preserves its distended condition by the inclusion therewith of the hairlike fibres commingled therewith.

The product of the present invention serves admirably in most cases in which a relatively inexpensive cushioning material or padding is required, in that it possesses in large measure the resilient cushioning properties of an all-hair padding, and at the same time materially reduces the cost thereof by the substitution of the distended cellulose fibres which afi'ord body and thickness to the padding, and in combination with the springy or resilient hair fibres affords the necessary distention to prevent easy matting down or compacting under continued usage,

The amount of hair or hair-like fibres incorporated into the material will depend upon the use for which the padding is intended, it being understood that an increase in the relative quantity of the hair will in general improve its properties, although for most purposes a proportion of one part of hair by weight to one part of cellulose fibre will give satisfactory results.

The inclusion of the cellulose fibre as a constituent, however, possesses certain distinct advantages over and above an all-hair padding; in that the cellulose fibres, when commingled with the hair, will act'as a felting medium or binder togive form and deflnition to the pad and serve to revent displacement or bunching up of t e hair and to retain the hair fibres properly and umformly distributed throughout the pad, and at the same time permit the pad to be made up to predetermined shapes or dimensions and to maintain itself in a form which may be readily and conveniently used under many conditions which would render the use of as such for a padding of uniform thickness,

so that, even where the percentage of hair is relatively large, the present product possesses certain distinct advantages over an all-hair pad, by reason of its coherency, definition of form, and uniformity of thickness, since the cellulose in all cases serves to maintain it in conveniently usable form.

I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a pad in the form of a layer of material having a cushion-like body composed of relatively long hair-like resilient fibres intermeshed with relatively short distended cellulose fibres, and having its surface fibres intermeshed with the 'interior fibres and compacted to provide a relatively thin tough and paper-like skin. 4

2. As a new article of manufacture, a layer having a body composed of resilient hairlike fibres intermeshed with cellulosefibres distended by the formation therethrough of bubbles, and having its surface fibres intermeshed with the interior fibres and compacted in the form of a thin relatively tough and coherent paper-like skin.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a pad in the form of a layer having a body composed of relatively long resilient hair-like fibres intermeshed with relatively short cellulose fibres distended by the formation therethrough of bubbles, and havin surface fibres intermeshed with the interior bres and compacted in the form of a thin relatively tough and coherent paperlike skin.

) In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 8th day of December, 1930.

FRANK L. BRYANT. 

